Hillary Clinton in Extreme Makeover, by Bay Buchanan

On Principles & Values: Reaches out to conservatives but voting record is liberal

If it is not her voting record, what justification is there to call her a centrist? Much of it comes from her willingness to reach out to Republicans. While First Lady, Hillary paired with conservative congressman Tom DeLay on legislation that would remove barriers to adoption. The publicity was excellent and Hillary obviously did not forget the advantages. She took up the practice as senator.

Bill Clinton assessed that while America may be ready for a woman president, he believed that woman would most likely be a Republican in the mold of Margaret Thatcher. So the makeover continued. The goal: to recreate Hillary into America’s Margaret Thatcher by 2008.

On Principles & Values: Prefers role as knowledgeable expert to role of visionary

Hillary is always well informed; there is no question about this. However, Hillary has no vision--so she compensates by knowing the facts. She is a learner, a plodder, a regurgitator, and a follower. Someone else has to take the information and turn it into action or ideas for the future. So, she falls back into the role in which she can compete with the best of them--consummate student.

On Principles & Values: Family myth: named after Everest’s Sir Edmund Hillary

Charming personal anecdote--but pure fabrication. Hillary was six when Edmund made it up that mountain. Prior to that, her “namesake” was a quiet beekeeper living in New Zealand. Not likely her mom named her after a beekeeper.

In spite of being literally impossible, Hillary didn’t correct it until she was ready to run for president. In October 2006 her campaign spokesman admitted the story was a hoax, or in her words, a “sweet family story her mother shared to inspire greatness in her daughter.”

On Principles & Values: At her core, Hillary is an idealistic activist

Hillary was once a passionate liberal, a left wing devotee, a radical feminist, & an antiwar activist. Now, 40 years later, the idealism that once had a claim on her heart seems all but gone.

Ideals create a passion for something good, & drive you to be part of a cause bigger than yourself. Hillary’s early aspirations offered a place of comfort, a sense of belonging. I wonder if Hillary has regrets as she looks back at the wide-eyed liberal & remembers all the passion that flowed through her veins, all the excitement of the cause. I wonder if she regrets trading it all in for fame & power.

Hillary is the same today as she was yesterday. It is not from lack of trying--the makeover team has been working overtime to sweeten & soften her--but they have not laid a glove on her true nature.

On War & Peace: Bush misused authorization for war

Q: Was Bush’s decision to go to war really something she didn’t expect at the time?

A: I’ve said that he misused the authority granted to him.

Q: Most people correctly foresaw the vote as authorization for Bush to invade Iraq. Do you mean you were not among them?

A: Well, I think that’s correct.

Now Hillary claims she didn’t believe that she was voting for war. She doesn’t defend her vote or call it a mistake. She wants to blame it on someone else--because Bush misled her.

On Foreign Policy: Supported Palestine in 1998, before Bill officially did

Several months later, while attending a meeting of the Palestinian National Council, Hillary praised Yasser Arafat’s leadership and again called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

In 1999, while traveling in the Middle East, Hillary had a joint appearance with Yasser Arafat’s wife, Suha. Ms. Arafat took the occasion to accuse Israel of poisoning her people. It was an outlandish accusation, but it did not stop Hillary from giving Suha a kiss when she finished talking.

Roll forward 8 months. Hillary, now a candidate for the Senate, called for moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, “the eternal & indivisible capital of Israel.”

On Immigration: Opposes illegal immigration, but doesn’t vote to follow up

A prominent Democrat had figured it out! (The NY Times later quoted it as “against illegal immigration.”) After she smacked employers of illegal aliens, she went right for the throat of the 2nd culprit, the federal government:

“We ought to come up with a much better entry & exit system so that if we’re going to let people in for the work that otherwise would not be done, let’s have a system that keeps track of them.”

On Abortion: Abortion is a sad, tragic choice to many women

Hillary said: “We can all recognize that abortion in many ways represents a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women.”

Hillary is correct. Abortion is tragic. But why? What makes an abortion “sad, even tragic” is that an unborn child loses his life. Her “sad, even tragic” comment is not the first indication that Hillary believes it is indeed a child that is ripped from the womb during an abortion. In 2003, while debating a proposed ban on partial-birth abortions, Hillary referred to the unborn child as “the child, the fetus, your baby.”

[Nevertheless,] Hillary has spent a lifetime fighting to keep abortions legal.

On Civil Rights: 2004:defended traditional marriage; 2006:voted for same-sex

I believe marriage is not just a bond, but a sacred bond between a man & a women. I have had occasion in my life to defend marriage, to stand up for marriage, to believe in the hard work & challenge of marriage. So I take umbrage at anyone who might suggest that those of us who worry about amending the Constitution are less committed to the sanctity of marriage, or to the fundamental bedrock principle that exists between a man & a woman, going back into the midst of history as one of the foundational institutions of history & humanity & civilization, and that its primary role during those millennia has been raising & socializing children.“

On Families & Children: Hillary’s “village” criticized as Big Government

When Bob Dole noted that Hillary’s “village” was in fact big government, Hillary feigned umbrage. “He mistakenly used my notion of the village as a metaphor for the state and implied that I, and by extension Democrats, favor government intrusion into every aspect of life.”

But Dole was not mistaken. Here are a few things you will find in Hillary’s village: Universal health care; Parent education featuring home visitors; Government programs to tell children what to eat; Government-funded TV; Government-funded preschool/day care starting at three or younger. This is good?

On Principles & Values: Critics call it “extreme makeover” but admit its success

No part of Hillary was designated off-limits. For 6 years Hillary has been under the knife, so to speak, as experts tried to transform her from that spirited and divisive left-wing media darling into a more serious national figure--moderate in temperament, style, politics, and tone.

The question is: Has it worked? Is the 2008 edition of Hillary more likely to be president than the earlier versions? The answer is an unqualified yes. Whether she needed a makeover is doubtful. Bottom line: Hillary is the woman to beat if you are running for president in 2008.

On Principles & Values: Replay of “2 for price of 1” has big pluses & big minuses

If Republicans are digging up dirt on Bill, they will hold it until Hillary is nominated, then drop it. If this happened, it could destroy Hillary’s hopes of returning to the White House.

For the purpose of Hillary’s campaign, Bill and Hillary may well be inseparable--“two for the price of one,” as she claimed many years ago.

Democrats know that the 08 election is theirs to lose. They are motivated to give Americans a nominee for whom they can vote with confidence. No matter how strong Bill is in the polls, if the party fears his personal affairs will again spill into the tabloids, they will work away from Hillary.